Hoops
by LavenderBlossom74
Summary: After a rocky start, Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase meet again 3 years later… as counselors at a Basketball Summer Camp. This time however, the roles are reversed: He hates her while she just wants a second chance. Can the two make things work out or will they miss out on what could have been? (Percabeth AU) ON HIATUS
1. Prologue (1)

**Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians**

 **/0\0/0\0/0\**

Hoops: Prologue Part 1

Annabeth was having a hard time deciding if taking her 99% adorable/1% annoying twin little brothers to the nearby Game Center was a pro or a con.  
On one hand she had to suffer through their – Not arguing – Just proving why they were right – dramas.

(Case 1:

Matthew: I had that coin first!

Bobby: No I did!  
Hysterical Annabeth: THERE'S MORE COINS RIGHT THERE!

Case 2:

Bobby: You cheated! Annie tell him he cheated!

Matthew: No I didn't! You're just jealous I have more skills than you!  
Resigned Older Sister: Matthew, you cheated. Good comeback though!

Case 3:

Bobby: He has more tickets! I want more tickets!

Matthew: *as Bobby attempts to grab some of his tickets* MY TICKETS!

Face-Palming Annabeth: They combine their tickets and share the prizes… What's the point?!)

But on the other hand... She could also enjoy some playing time.

Which totally made up for it.

Plus, Bobby and Matthew were also boys who got mad at each other and yelled and screamed and hollered (and any other synonym to 'argue'), but were back to being best friends 2 minutes later.

It was probably a boy thing.

In any case, that was how she found herself in front of a basketball hoop.

Correction—that was how she found herself in front of a basketball hoop _against her will._ _  
_

Because apparently instead of playing something she actually _wanted_ to play-half of the reason she agreed to bringing them-her brothers wanted her to play basketball.

 _She'd_ wanted to play Sudoku on the big touch screen and solve the puzzle in under two minutes and basically defend her spot as number one in the rankings but no.

The game the twins wanted her to play was simple enough. There was a regular sized basket that was enclosed around three sides with cage-like material—probably so that some innocent bystander wouldn't be knocked open side was the place where one could shoot the basketballs from and at the top, there was a blinking _score_ and _time._

She'd never really been a fan of basketball but she was pretty athletic so she was decent at basically any sport.

Bobby tugged her arm, "Come on, Annabeth!"

"Pleeeaaaase?!" Matthew piped up.

Rolling her eyes, she sighed. Figuring she'd try her luck and get her brothers some tickets, she inserted two tokens. The twins cheered.

Then, the message ' _Waiting for other player'_ scrolled across the screen. It began a countdown: _20, 19…_

Annabeth lifted an eyebrow at the machine. Silently, she waited for time to finish so that the machine would allow her to play solo. She stared at her brothers who looked equally as impatient.

The machine chimed. Annabeth turned around…

A guy with black hair who towered over her by a couple of inches had just inserted 2 coins into the basketball game beside hers.

That meant…

The guy turned and Annabeth met the greenest, most awe-striking eyes she'd ever seen. He had tan skin that matched his dark messy hair perfectly and a defined jaw. She didn't realize she'd been staring at him like an idiot until he grinned at her.

And his appeal to Annabeth vanished just like that. His grin was an arrogant, cocky smirk that only a boy who knew he was cute wore. And Annabeth had never liked those type of boys.

Her expression became one of utter disgust. Turning back to her game, she punched the ' _start'_ button as the conceited idiot beside her did the same. Her determination to win increased and as soon as the balls began rolling, she began shooting.

Time: 100 seconds

The hoop moved backwards and then forward in random patterns. The game chimed whenever she scored and depending on far the hoop had been, points were added to her score.

Three pointer. Miss. Miss. 1 point. 3 points. 3 points. Miss.

On it went. But then with commentary.

About 10 seconds into the game, the guy had begun making stupid comments using an announcer type voice.

"She aims, she misses!"

"She holds the ball, she calculates the distance, oh she has this! No, folks she does not!"

"Oooh, she makes it! 3 pointer for the win!

But can she catch up to her amazing opponent who has lightning fast reflexes and awesome skills?"

Gritting her teeth, she did her best to ignore him. But even as he spoke, he made goal after goal while she, distracted, made less. It was infuriating.

Hissing, she glared. "Can you _shut up?"_

"I _can,"_ came the cheeky response "But I don't want to."

63 seconds

Steeling her dark gray eyes, she began to throw harder with more force.

"Fine, would you prefer a plain command instead of a question? Shut-up!"

"Um… Didn't you technically ask me a question before that? Because if you did the answer to that 'I really don't care' because I'm not going to shut up anyways."

"Are you always this annoying?" She questioned.

"Are you always this rude?" He shot back.

31 seconds.

" _Rude?_ How is wanting to enjoy a game considered rude?" She said incredulously

"From what I overheard, you didn't want to play in the first place so how could you want to enjoy it?"

She was going to kill him. Her spotless record would have a really dark mark on it soon. How was it possible to be able to hate someone this much in such little time?

"Plus," he continued " _I_ was trying to enjoy _my_ game by having a little fun but _you_ ruined that so _you_ are considered rude."

7 seconds.

"And you are considered a proud jerk" Annabeth retorted.

…

5, 4, 3, 2…

The game made a buzzer sound. Programmed applause congratulated… the guy as the winner.

He'd apparently also gotten the 250 ticket bonus because tickets began pouring out his game like a waterfall.

Matthew and Bobby—who Annabeth was sure had either been oblivious to her argument with the idiot to her left or just didn't care—ran over to said idiot and stared in wonder at the flow of tickets.

As the tickets finished flowing, the guy yanked them out.

Then, _then_ he held them out to Annabeth.

"Here"

Annabeth stared at him incredulously. "Excuse me?"

The guy lifted his eyebrows as if he didn't know what was going on. "Here," he said again and held them out.

Wow, this was just too much. Was he seriously…

"I don't want your tickets," she said coldly.

Bobby began to protest but with a piercing glare from Annabeth, he was silenced.

The guy's emerald eyes widened in confusion.

"What," Annabeth said tauntingly "Is this the first time anyone has refused an arrogant offer from your hands?"

The guy shook his head "No, but this is the first time I've met a girl with an attitude like yours." He quietly answered.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

He gave her an unbelieving stare before going to Bobby and holding the tickets out to him.

Annabeth wasn't normally mean much less physically violent but there was something about this guy that just set her off. She couldn't explain it but he made something in her burn angrily.

The nerve he had, his annoying personality, how his eyes reflected an arrogant heart…

In a single fluid move, she knocked the tickets out the guy's hands and onto the floor.

"I _said,_ we _don't_ want your _tickets_."

She grabbed her brothers who had identical shocked expressions on their faces and ushered them the opposite way—never glancing back to see how the guy bent down on knee, picked up his tickets, and stood back up.

Or how he bit his lip and stared curiously at Annabeth's receding form.

Or watched how he later warmly gave his 250 tickets to a 5 year old girl and left the place silently.

 **/0\0/0\0/0\**

Annabeth didn't give the event much more thought. Sure the green-eyed boy crossed her mind every once in awhile but it was rare and it was always in contempt.

She figured he was just one of those horrible people you just met sometime in your lifetime and then never saw them again.

But three months after the little incident, she was proven wrong.


	2. Prologue (2)

Hoops: Prologue Part 2

Three months after the encounter, the green-eyed boy appeared at the Game Center again. He approached her. She scowled. But nonetheless, he kept on coming.

He was persistent.

One time she left for the bathroom and when she came back, he was at the Mario-Karts playing with her brothers. Each time he had a window, he took advantage of it without a thought.

It didn't matter she made it clear she disliked him. It didn't matter she made it clear her judgement was final. She was a judgemental person she knew. But her judgements were always right; this one would be mo different.

So she acted, she was the equivalent of a cold wall.

It didn't matter.

He was at the Game Center at least once a month. Sometimes more. His visits continued for 8 months.

She debated leaving the Game Center for good more than once even though such a decision would cause the twins to riot. That wasn't why she chose to endure those 8 long months however.

It was because she refused to give into whatever game the guy was playing. She made up her mind that she wouldn't back down and she didn't.

He never learned her name and neither did she his.

The guy simply became someone she would encounter every now and then, a familiar face, a familiar urge to punch or kick, a familiar annoyance.

But then it all changed.

Matthew was placed on the game board. And tables were overturned.

Almost a year into knowing the guy, her 7 year-old brother went missing at the arcade.

She had no idea how it happened.

All she knew was that for a desperate, maddeningly frustrating half hour, all Annabeth did was search. Was hold on tightly to her remaining brother and look and look.

Millions of thoughts raced to her mind-thoughts she despised and loathed should they ever come true.

Each passing second dorve her further pass the edge she'd already crossed.

 _Because one of her little brothers was lost._

Then, then she found Matthew. She felt no relief at first though.

Few things in life could make her lose the ability to think properly and logically. Her brothers were one of them.

All she saw were the tear stains. All she saw was the scratch. She didn't see the smile or the band-aid. All she saw was what she chose to see.

"What the _crap!"_ She yelled.

The guy- _the conceited unbelievable jerk-face-_ jumped to his feet at her voice.

Words were on his tongue but Annabeth didn't let a single one out.

"You insolent jerk! Who the heck do you think you are?"

His eyes were wide and surprised.

"What right do you have to take my frickin' _brother?_ Do you have any idea how worried I was? No, of course you don't because you don't care about anyone but yourself! What type of mad _idiot_ are you?! You loathsome, egotistical cretin!"

" _Annie?"_

The frightened voice tore through her tunnel vision and the whole world came into focus.

She dropped down to one knee and pushed Matthew against her chest. As she drew him back, he noticed he was scared and her rage began to boil over until she realized the fear was directed at her.

Fear at how she'd lost her temper.

Silence coated the empty space before a rough voice abruptly broke it.

"I'm sorry," her expression became even more incredulous but he wasn't done yet.

"I didn't realize helping a lost boy find his way back to his sister was a crime punishable by being called an idiot." His tone wasn't accusatory so it took a matter of seconds for the meaning of his words to sink through.

When the metal pieces finally sank to the bottom of the lake however, they only left confusion and doubt.

Slowly she stood and met the guy's determined green eyes.

"I didn't realize you thought of me so low as to stoop down to kidnapping a defenseless kid. I guess I really left a horrible impression on you. I do apologize for not being able to locate you sooner."

He bent down in front of Matthew as she had done just moments before and gave him a two finger salute, "Bye Matthew,"

Standing, he stuck his hands in his pockets and bowed his head. "Sorry for stepping into your life, I can assure you it won't happen again."

With that, he walked away.

* * *

It wasn't until afterwards that she learned he truly hadn't been lying.

 _A sound met his ears—it sounded like… Crying! With searching eyes, he moved towards it. When he finally found the source, he blinked in shock._

 _One of crazy-smart's—how he had to refer to the girl that wouldn't leave his mind for some unexplainable reason. The girl he was curious about and followed even after she basically spit in his face. Percy seriously needed to get himself a life and a whole lot of common sense_

 _Anyway, one her brothers was the source of the crying. And boy, were those sure not crocodile tears._

 _Not knowing what to do but wanting to do something, Percy cautiously approached the kid._

" _Um… You okay?"_

 _Nice move, Jackson. This kid is sobbing and terrified and is clearly not okay._

 _The kid in question looked up at Percy, startled. His eyes grew round in fear until he abruptly recognized him._

" _Help!" He cried_

" _Um… Um…" what did he do… What was he supposed to do!? He wasn't made for this! "Where's your sister?" Yeah, the sister who hates my guts._

 _The kid blubbered "I don't know!"_

 _Oh. So that was the problem. Percy crouched down to be at the boy's level. "Well… How about I help you find her?"_

 _The kid (he seriously needed to get his name) looked at him with big, hopeful eyes. "Really?"_

 _Percy nodded, "Sure!" Anything to stop the waterworks._

" _Thank you!" The kid's eyes were shining and his tears started drying up._

 _Percy smiled and was about to get up when he noticed the scrape on the kid's knees. Suddenly thankful for his weird habit of keeping band-aids in his pockets, he stood up, gave the kid his hand and started heading for the bathroom._

 _Might as well wash the cut and then bandage it._

" _So… What your name kiddo?"_

Matthew told her about how the guy whom she'd self-proclaimed a "jerk".

How he offered to help him look, how he bandaged his cut, how he kept Matthew laughing with jokes…

 _He helped me Annie when no one else did. I don't know why you were so mean to him when all he wanted to do was help_

And Annabeth realized, she didn't know either.

When had she become so close-minded that she refused to believe anyone could be any difference than their initial impression?

When had she decided that if a guy looked like a stuck-up jerk, he was one?

When had simply messing around and trying to say funny cracks become insults in her mind?

Because that was what the guy had been doing in that first meeting… He hadn't been trying to be rude or obnoxious… He was just making jokes and keeping the mood light because that was his personality.

When had she become so judgemental?

Or an even better question… Had she ever _not_ been judgemental?

 _ **AN:**_ Prologue Part 2 done! Btw, Annabeth are Percy are 16 here. They will meet again 3 years later! And it will be epic.

See you guys there! Please review :D

~LB


	3. Chapter 1

**Hoops**

 _CHAPTER ONE_

Annabeth jumped in her seat at the sudden turn before glaring across at the driver seat.

" _Rachel!"_

Said redhead grinned ruefully. "What?"

If anything, her remark made Annabeth glare harder. Huffing, Annabeth turned away from Rachel and moved her attention to the passengers in back.

"You kiddos still alive back there?"

At the same time that Rachel exclaimed an insulted "Hey!", Matthew and Bobby answered with a solid, "Nope!"

Annabeth turned triumphantly back to Rachel, "See? Even 10 year olds know you stink at driving!"

Rachel rolled her eyes. "Whatever. I still passed my driving test."

Annabeth snorted, "Barely."

The twins burst out laughing. Situations were suddenly flipped; Rachel glared while Annabeth smirked.

"I don't even know why I agreed to this." Rachel grumbled.

"Because you _love_ us" Bobby said.

Rachel shook her head, "Don't know why."

Annabeth restrained herself from punching Rachel good-naturally on the shoulder, "Oh come on, Red! It''ll be fun!"

Matthew piped up from the back, "Yeah! I mean chaperoning ten year-olds is like the funnest thing ever!"

Beside him, Bobby said in a no-nonsense voice, "They're going to be _counselors_ not chaperones - it's different because it means they have more responsibility."

Seeming to understand that responsibility did not qualify as _fun_ , he continued. "Anyways, you'll also get to meet some super awesome basketball players. Sure, they go to your school and all but I bet you've never met star player-"

He suddenly jumped as his brother elbowed him in the ribs.

" _Dude!_ " Matthew hissed as he gave a pointed stare at Annabeth.

Annabeth for her part just raised an eyebrow at their antics. "Bobby?"

Bobby looked like a deer in the headlights for all of two seconds before he cleared his throat and smiled charmingly.

"Right, you'll get to meet one of the star basketball players at NYU, Jason Grace! That definitely counts as fun!"

Annabeth was about to scrutinize the twins suspicious behavior, not at all forgetting the _caught_ expression written on Bobby's face when all of a sudden she jerked forward. Straightening, she turned a murderous glare on a nervous looking Rachel who was in the process of putting the car in reverse on account of almost passing a red light.

" _Rachel. Elizabeth. Dare!"_

She sheepishly shrugged, "Heh."

Meanwhile, thanks to the distraction Rachel provided, the twins were able to deflate with a sigh of relief.

Then it was back to quiet bickering, "Yeesh Bobby! You need to be more careful with your big mouth!"

" _My_ big mouth? _I_ was the one with the quick thinking!"

"Sure you were."

"I _was_. If it weren't for me _we_ would be the ones getting chewed out right now!"

Both boys winced sympathetically when they looked at poor Rachel who was getting an earful about "irresponsible driving" and "the irresponsible driving instructor who was crazy enough to pass you" (Rachel responded to that with a meek, "It was my tenth time doing the exam and I'm pretty sure she just wanted to get rid of me.")

Shaking their heads with pity, if not a little amusement as well, Matthew and Bobby turned to each other once again.

Matthew crossed his arms, "You're so awesome Bobby that because of you, Annie suspects something else is going on."

"Yeah well, she was going to find out sooner or later."

"I'd prefer if it was later."

Bobby finally relented a tad bit. "What are we going to do, Matthew?"

"We hope she doesn't ask any more questions and hope that either he isn't at camp or that she somehow doesn't kill us when she sees him."

Bobby snorted, "Matt, you can't seriously be hoping he won't show up. Just think about it; we could actually _meet_ him!"

Matthew smirked, "I already did!"

"That was before he was famous though so it doesn't count and anyway, you _know_ there is absolutely _no_ chance Annabeth won't kill us if she finds out we knew and didn't tell her."

Groaning, his brother slumped forward. "We are fried fish, fried chicken, fried cows - we're _fried!_ "

Bobby rubbed his chin thoughtfully, "If we tell her now though… I don't think we'll die."

Matthew looked at him with a crestfallen expression"So what? Our options are either pain or death?"  
"Yep."

"Fine. We'll tell her a little before we get there though. I want to remember my last moments as being happy."

Bobby shoved him, "Oh stop being a drama queen! Be fearless, like me!"

About an hour later however when Matthew pointed at the sign on the highway which had the name of the city where the basketball camo would be held however, it was Bobby who was being the drama queen.

"Do we _have_ to tell her now?" The self-declared fearless hero tentatively whispered.

Matthew glared at him, "No Bobby, let's just wait until we're at the camp so that she can yell at us where everyone can hear."

"But we're not even that close yet!"

Almost on cue, the scenery transformed from boring highways into big lush forests with rising mountains.

 _Oh really?_

Just as Matthew was about to start talking, Bobby frantically thrust a half-eaten PB&J at him, "Here, when I die, I will leave this sandwich to you in my will."

Matthew rolled his eyes before squeezing his hands into fists to keep his nerves at bay.

He cleared his throat, "So um, Annabeth?"

The girl paused her conversation with Rachel and turned to face her brothers, "Yes?"

"You know how some of the basketball players from your school are going to be helping out at the camp?"

She narrowed her eyes slightly, "Yes. Why are you squirming?"

Matthew chose to ignore her and instead looked at his brother desperately.

Bobby gulped, "Yeah, well the star player is going to kinda be there."

"Grace?"

"No, um _the_ star player. Percy Jackson."

Rachel squealed, "Seriously? You guys were right this is going to be so much-"

Annabeth stopped her by putting her hand up for silence, "Why is this important?"

Her eyebrows quirked up as she looked at her brothers with what they called her ' _mom face'_

Matthew laughed nervously, "Heh, you've never actually seen him, have you?"

Annabeth shook her head. She'd never been a fan of basketball and could honestly care less about whoever this star player was.

Both of her brothers shared a glance and Annabeth put more intensity into her glare. Her gray eyes became cold slabs of stone. "Guys?"

Bobby finally snapped from the pressure, "He's that guy from the Game Center!"

Matthew facepalmed, "Wonderful use of tact, dude!"

Game Center guy. _Game Center I yelled at and insulted guy_. Oh no.

It was Rachel turn to put her hand up. "Okay, okay. Hold your horses everybody… you're telling me my best friend knows Percy Jackson? _The_ Percy Jackson? Awesome!"

Matthew and Bobby coughed. Loudly. "Um, no _not_ awesome" Matthew began. "She yelled at him and called him a jerk." Bobby finished.

Both then proceeded to share a look of horror before backing as far away as they could from Annabeth. She scowled at them as Rachel's jaw dropped, "What?!"

Annabeth ignored her and glowered at her brothers. "And tell me, my sweet brothers… did you know he was going to be at the camp _before_ you asked me to sign up as a counselor?"

Again the look of horror. "N-no! At least not _really._ " they squeaked. Annabeth started to inch towards them and just as they were both getting ready to say their farewells to this world, Rachel pulled up at the entrance to the camp.

Pulling Annabeth by her shirt, she made the girl sit down and look like a proper, responsible counselor instead of a psycho sister ready to dish out revenge.

"You," she stuck a finger in Annabeth's face as she followed the arrows that led the way inside the camp, "Will give me the full story when all this blows over."

"And you two," she pointed at the twins, "Owe me a smoothie for saving your lives."

All three nodded (Annabeth reluctantly and the twins eagerly).

Trying to be helpful and encouraging, Matthew said, "I doubt you'll even see him."

"Yeah." Matthew agreed.

As Rachel parked the car in front of the designated area and everyone got out, Annabeth tried to believe them. She was here now, after all.

It would be okay. She was going to have a fun time these two weeks and not worry about anything.

She hoped.

 ** _AN:_** Yayyy! No more hiatus for this story! However, I do have to warn you, updates might be slow. It _will_ get done though. This chapter was so much fun to write.

Hope you enjoyed and please review!


	4. Chapter 2

**Hoops**

 _CHAPTER TWO_

* * *

 **Annabeth**

"You're acting like a runaway convict!" A voice hissed to her left, effectively preventing her from swiveling her head to the side (again).

Annabeth turned to Rachel with a sheepish expression, "Sorry."

Rachel huffed at her, "You've literally been looking behind you every 5 seconds with wild eyes that rival even my most chaotic paintings! Girl, you need to _relax_!"

Muttering under her breath, Annabeth glared at her brothers lazily strolling on without an care in the world. "Kinda hard to do when my would-be murderer could be right here."

Rachel rolled her eyes, "Don't exaggerate: I doubt you made Percy-" At Annabeth's frantic _shhh_ , her friend lifted an eyebrow in amusement. "I doubt you made _him_ that mad."

Annabeth shook her head, "You have no idea."

Rachel simply sighed, "Oh, Annabeth. It's going to be _fine_. You'll see. For now though, let's focus on getting where we need to be." She said, staring pointedly at all the people flooding towards the center of the camp.

Annabeth nodded resignedly before grabbing her brothers by their shoulders and pushing them in front of her. She rearranged her hold on her duffle bag and trudged on forward.

Soon, they arrived at the center, what the map of Camp _Half-Blood_ (the name confused her too) declared as the "arena". After a few minutes of waiting (what felt like eons thanks to the wonderful patience of her brothers), a man riding a horse trotted up towards a small stage.

His grand entrance achieved the purpose of entrapping the attention of about a hundred kids - an accomplishment that was no easy feat.

As he unmounted, a pretty girl with long black hair and bright blue eyes grabbed the reins and guided the horse in another direction, presumably back to the stables.

The man then stepped onto the stage, a microphone in his hand. "Welcome Everybody! Who's ready to have fun?!"

He was answered by a chorus of cheers which he took as his cue to continue. "My name is Chiron and I am the activities director here at Camp-Half Blood. I can assure you these next two weeks will be full of not only Basketball but also many different kinds of activities you can choose from and enjoy. Now, I am sure everyone is tired so I'd like to get straight to business."

He paused, "Now, this is how things are going to work; there are 16 total cabins, 8 for the girls and 8 for the guys." Putting out one of his arms, he instructed, "On this side, I want all the males, campers and counselors alike," he put out his other arm, "And on this side, the females, same thing as well."

It took a bit of a struggle, but soon there were two distinguishable groups. Annabeth did her best to shake off the jitters that always appeared when she was separated from her brothers.

A pretty woman with golden locks stepped up on the stage beside Chiron and waved at the crowd with a warm smile. Putting her own microphone to her lips, she said, "Hello all l! I am Hestia and I'll be showing all the ladies to their cabins while Chiron shows all the gentlemen to theirs."

As both moved off the stage and went in opposite directions, so did the two divided groups on the ground.

Beside Annabeth, Rachel kept on making little comments to herself about everything they passed, how the strawberry fields were so breathtaking, how the forest smelled luscious and looked so healthy, how she could envision the creek they could vaguely hear, on and on. She was an artist who loved nature so Annabeth supposed she'd be seeing some paintings this place in the near future.

Annabeth for her part looked at the architecture - _that_ was breathtaking. Everything seemed to scream greek, the mess hall, the actual _armory_ (Hestia had taken it upon herself to be a tour guide and pointed out the different attractions they saw) and especially the Amphitheater.

But of course, Annabeth already knew this camp would probably have a recurring Greek theme considering the names of it gave its cabins.

As they finally arrived in the clearing where said cabins were, Annabeth had to smirk when she knew for sure which goddess the first cabin represented. Engraved with peacocks and with graceful looking columns, there stood the Hera cabin.

"Here we are," Hestia began, "I understand all of you know which of these seven cabins you will reside in? We'll go by each one at a time and when you hear yours called, step towards it. If by any chance, you don't know your cabin, come see me when we're done and we'll get things sorted out, okay?"

Pointing at the first cabin, she began. "Hera?"

Annabeth felt a corner of her mouth turn up with pride. Yep, she was right.

A couple of girls stepped forward as well as two older looking girls. Counselors, probably. One had midnight hair and authoritative almond eyes. The other was petite with amber hair and shy light green eyes.

To them, Hestia smiled. "These girls are now under your charge. Be responsible but don't forget to balance it out with a little fun!" She winked. "Good luck!"

The process continued for two more cabins (Aphrodite and Demeter) and since Rachel had left as a counselor for Demeter, it was just Annabeth as they approached the forth cabin.

She knew it was hers as soon as she saw it.

"Athena?"  
As Hestia called the cabin forward, Annabeth looked for her partner in crime. When she laid eyes on her, she thought she was an _actual_ partner in crime.

Dressed in all black and sporting punk hair, Annabeth beheld the second counselor with a curious gaze.

Opening the cabin, Annabeth motioned all the girls inside.

After choosing a bunk, she approached the other counselor.

She'd learned the hard way not to judge people for how they looked. The very hard way.

Now, she waved with a friendly smile. "Hey, I'm Annabeth."

The girl turned her electric blue eyes on Annabeth who held her ground firmly with her own stormy gray eyes. Breaking into a smirk, the girl answered. "Thalia."

 _Thalia_. Okay, she could remember that.

"I assume you're here for the Camp-duty position?" She had to be since Annabeth had signed up for the Group Counselor position.

The girl smiled ruefully. "You assume correct. I could never be in charge of a group of kids for an entire day."

Cocking her head to the side, Annabeth asked, "Really?"

"Yep. I actually only came because my brother convinced me to."

"And your brother would be…"

"Jason Grace, you might've heard of him."

"I have." Yeah, this morning. "Well…" Annabeth gestured towards the girls around them. "I'm gonna try and get them under control" she said as Thalia laughed.

"Hello?"

A few girls paid attention to her but the rest kept right on talking.

Suddenly, "HELLO EVERYONE?"

Everyone turned to look at Thalia who grinned, "That's better. I'm Thalia and I'll be the counselor you can bother from 10pm to 8am."

Annabeth couldn't help but laugh as she followed the brash girl's lead, "And I'm Annabeth. I'll be the counselor you'll be primarily with."

Clapping her hands together, Annabeth grinned, "How about some more introductions?"

About an hour later, when introductions were done and Annabeth was trying to get to know her fellow counselor better, her phone chimed.

So did Thalia's. Bringing out her phone, Thalia lifted her eyebrows, "It's my schedule"

Annabeth nodded as she read it through, "Same here." As she scrolled through her phone a little more, she suddenly squinted. "It also says here that I'll be partnered up with another cabin - a cabin with the boys."

Thalia nodded, "Oh, so that's what the little diagrams at the bottom mean."

"So we're spot 4 so I'll meet up with spot 4 from the boy's tomorrow"

"Seems like it."

"Where are you reporting to?"

"Rock climbing."

"Fun. Oh and I was wondering, what are we supposed to wear anyway?"

Thalia grinned mischievously, "I think it's those orange shirts that over there on the couch and jeans or shorts."

At her words, Annabeth turned her attention to the shirts.

Thalia wasn't done yet however, "You know I'll be adding my own little thing to it though."

Chuckling, Annabeth turned back to her, "Of course you will."

Thalia nodded importantly, "If you add something to your outfit, I'll boost you up from _okay_ to _cool_."

"As tempting as that sounds," Annabeth said like she was giving it serious thought. "I'll have to decline."

Thalia rolled her eyes and was about to respond when a little girl came out of nowhere. "Miss. Annabeth, can you braid my hair?" She sweetly asked.

Annabeth smiled tenderly, "Of course!"

Taking the brush, she quickly braided the girl's wet, recently out of the shower, hair.

"There, all done."

"Thank you!"

As she left, Thalia nodded in approval. "Wow, you do have a way with kids."

Annabeth shook her head, "Trust me, I don't think so. I'm like a responsible mom. You're like a fun older sister"

"That I am. Except you also need responsibility to handle them."

"So I guess we balance each other out."  
Thalia thought that over, "I guess we do."

Annabeth stood up from the bunk bed where they were sitting on, "Well, I'm going to start handing out the t-shirts."

"Anything you're going to add?" Thalia teased.

"Sure." Her lips curving up secretly, Annabeth brought out her blue hair tie. "I'll tie my hair with this tomorrow."

Thalia just stared at her before announcing, "I'm boosting you down."

Annabeth laughed as she made her way over to the couch. While she distributed the t-shirts (Thalia eventually came over to help), she couldn't help but feel her entire mood brighten as she considered how things had turned out.

She had eight energetic girls looking forward to the next two weeks and a new friend who Annabeth was looking forward to getting to know better.

All things considered, this camp thing was seeming a lot more like fun and less stress.

The next day, Annabeth got out of bed with a bright smile on her face. Everybody got ready and Thalia, true to her word, added a couple of thick bracelets to her wrists.

Soon, Annabeth was leading the Athena cabin towards the mess hall, Bella right behind her and Josey bringing up the rear.

They arrived in front of the mess hall a few minutes later and stood in front of a bold **4** as they waited for the other cabin.

She began talking to Bella, trying to learn as much as she could about each of the girls she was responsible for.

Just as she was moving onto the next girl in line, somebody tapped her on the shoulder,

"Um, excuse me?"

Still smiling she started to turn around, "Yes?"

Her smile slipped off her face faster than butter.

No. _No._

His eyes widened as he recognized her.

 _No no no!_

It was Percy Jackson.

 _ **AN:**_ Yeah, I just left you people with a cliffhanger. I am so _excited_! Eeeeek!

Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed!

Reviews and appreciated

~LB


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